Occupational Therapy - Essay Example

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a generalist field with a number of specialty areas. The core concepts of the profession bind OT practitioners together and provide a unique professional identity, regardless of practice setting. …

Extract of sampleOccupational Therapy

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On a personal note, occupational therapy is beneficial for people who underwent surgery, stroke or any other medical disorders and would want to be able to do their activities of daily living with minimal supervision and maximum adaptation to their current condition.
The Philosophy of Occupational Therapy
As with other health professionals, occupational therapists adhere to different schools of thought for the planning of treatment. There are, however, basic philosophical premises underlying occupational therapy, which foster a sense of professional identity and guide practice.In order to understand the occupational therapy process, it is important to have some consensus on the underlying philosophy of occupational therapy, which is the unifying force of the profession.
The concept of occupation is central to occupational therapy. Nevertheless, the term itself has been used in the literature in various, sometimes ambiguous ways. It is best to stand with the position of AOTA (Assembly of the American Occupational Therapy Association) that occupations involve mental abilities and skills but do not always include an associated observable or physical behavior. In the OT process, one of the ultimate goals of treatment is the developing, nurturing and restoring of occupations.
It is the performance aspects of occupation that have most often been discussed in OT literature, but these are most accurately described as “activities”.
Three major, closely related themes are prevalent in occupational therapy literature. The first is the use of purposeful activity that includes activities that have personal and cultural meaning and provide a basis for “exploration and learning, practicing and achieving mastery” .
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MDD is a condition that disables its victim’s health, eating and sleeping habits, school and work life, as well as family. Approximately 4% of victims end up committing suicide, while 65% of those committing suicide suffered from MDD or some other form of mood disorder (Beck, 2009).

With the use of various forms of treatments, they help to develop, restore and maintain their patient’s daily living and work skills. Their main goal is to help clients have productive, independent and fulfilling lives. Some of the duties performed by occupational therapist include; help patients to undertake physical exercise, basic motor function, use adoptive equipment among other duties (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2004).

They engage in social activities, economic activities and all the other processes that are of the service to the interest of the individuals and others in the society. By engaging in some occupation, an individual is able to interact positively with the environment.

The aim of their profession is to work and help children and adults alike who are facing mental, physical or social disabilities and challenges (Roche, 2010, The Nemours Foundation, 2012, and NHS, 2012). Occupational therapist also helps people from different age groups who have been suffering from various physical, mental, and social difficulties since birth, as well as individuals who became disabled due to accident, illness, ageing process, and undesirable lifestyle (Roche, 2010 and NHS, 2012).

This has been used in different groups of patients who have suffered and are still suffering from cancer, stroke, mental retardation, physical disability and other related matters. Occupational therapists give services providing assistance to people in different occupational activities including self-maintenance (including ability to clean self, dress and use the toilet), leisure (hobbies and other recreations), productivity (household chores, paid or voluntary work) and rest (Chapparo & Ranka, 1997).

The areas of performance which may need development are strong-minded by the enduring and the psychoanalyst together. Occupational therapist use focused behavior as their action techniques and goals. Occupational therapy conducts are not incomplete to areas of labor or job preparation.

With the success of Occupational therapy in this field, slowly it was adopted into the medical system and now we know that its intervention has come to stay. Occupational therapy refers to the use of meaningful activities in the day-to-day lives of the people who cannot achieve balanced, independent life on their own.

Dementia was from a Latin word de and mentis which means apart, away and mind. It was used as a word related to mental disorder in the year 1874 by Henry Maudsley. As a person gets older, he/she will most likely to develop dementia. Sometime after the age of 65, about 1 in 20 people develop dementia and about 1 in 5 people over the age of 80 have dementia.

After a long calculation of thoughts, I made up my mind to become an Occupational Therapist Assistant. The fact that I have a child suffering from downs syndrome fueled my decision.
This is because being close to him has helped me a lot in realizing how much